In the aftermath of a broad consolidation of the CDC, health experts are voicing patient safety concerns for chronic disease patients, according to a June 11 NBC News report.
Experts expressed alarm at the dissolution of an eight-person CDC team that evaluated research and provided guidelines on contraceptive use for specific patient populations, including those with sickle cell disease, valvular heart disease or at high risk for HIV infection.
Some chronic diseases, including sickle cell, are associated with severe pregnancy risks. The team’s elimination could exacerbate maternal health disparities, experts said, as the maternal mortality rate for Black sickle cell patients is 26 times higher than the general U.S. population, research shows. More than 90% of sickle cell patients are Black, according to the CDC.
The CDC’s decision to cut this team “will disproportionately impact a community already facing significant barriers to care, further deepening health disparities,” Teonna Woolford, founder of the nonprofit Sickle Cell Reproductive Health Education Directive, told NBC News.
HHS did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment. In May, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said there were 42 maternal health divisions: “They’re not cuts. They’re consolidations. It’s ridiculous to have 42 divisions that are all supposed to be doing the same thing.”
Lee Warner, PhD, former chief of the CDC Division of Reproductive Health’s Women’s Health and Fertility Branch, disagreed with this statement.
“These are the only federal guidelines that focus on the safety of contraception for women with certain medical conditions,” Dr. Warner told NBC News. “This work exists nowhere else, and these individuals specialize in this area. Without their presence, the work stops.”
After the team was fired in April, Dr. Warner retired from the CDC.
